MURDER GO ROUND CHAPTER 1 A ray of sunshine slipped through the blinds and drilled into his eyes.  He moaned and dragged a pillow across his face hoping to stall the arrival of another agonizing day. Many thought nights were the toughest time for the bereaved.  So lonely.  So quiet.  For him nights were easy to pass.  He had his friend, Johnny Walker, always standing by quietly, faithfully, ready and willing to help him forget. Days were definately harder.  Everything reminded him of Mary--the house, the boat, the golf club, well meaning people still offering their condolences. He threw the couch pillow off his face and forced himself to sit up.  Like she had done every morning for the past year, Mary smiled at him from the family portrait on the living room wall. "I love you," he said and tosser her a kiss. He often thought about turning to Johnny Walker in the daytime also, but for some reason he couldn't.  Only at night, in the dark when Mary couldn't see him was he able to buddy up with Johnny.  Together they caroused until he passed out in a mind numbing stupor. Pulling himself off the couch, he trudged upstairs holding his head as still as possible to keep his brain from clanging against his skull.  In the bathroom he dropped his clothes on top of his discards from the last three days and stepped into the shower, hoping to steam himself into some kind of functioning condition.  His housekeper was due soon.  To keep out of her way, he saved his errands for the days she came. A towel wrapped around his waist, he picked up his razor.  He gazed at it.  Did it matter? he thought and put it down.  Leaving the growth on his face for a few days didn't bother him, but he detested the rotten tase in his mouth from the night's festivites with Johnny.  He opened the mirrored medicine cabinet to get the toothpaste. Enshrined on the middle shelf lay Mary's tortoise shell hair brush, her blond har still intertwined around the bristles.  Gently he lifted the brush, drew it to his nose and inhaled her essence.  Closing his eyes, he imagined himself propped up against the pillows on their bed watching her as she sat at her dressing table, clad in an alluring negligee and brushing her shoulder length hair.  Clasping the brush to his chest, he wept. "This is all I have left on you my darling."